Acrobatics is an extraordinarily difficult circus discipline to keep fresh. There are only so many ways you can push the body and until humans evolve wings it is almost impossible to come up with an entirely new take. But Australian quartet This Side Up has a pretty good crack at it, juggling rubber-limbed agility, gymnastic brilliance and brute strength to deliver a truly entertaining, often thrilling, family-friendly show.
The premise is that lab-coated Professor Archimedes (David Joseph) is conducting experiments into the possibilities of the physical frame and Casey Douglas, James Brown and Christian Schooneveld-Reid are his dapper, flesh-and-blood crash test dummies. As he scribbles ticks and crosses on his blackboard they perform spectacular feats which are both breathtakingly graceful and mind-bogglingly muscular.
After a gentle start there are successive moments to cherish. One man turns into a human gyroscope, spinning inside a giant hula hoop. Another prompts gasps by doing a handstand on three upended bricks. Most impressive are the poetry-in-motion moments when the trio work in balletic harmony, forming a living sculpture on top of precariously piled chairs or bouncing on the seesaw-like teeter board, taking turns to fly across the stage into each others’ arms.
The stunts may have all been done before but modern circus is rarely assembled with so much wit, style and pretension-free accessibility.
Everything fits, from the ramshackle charm of the Heath Robinson scientific contraptions onstage to the jazzy soundtrack and natty suits. The Professor and his team may not have invented anything new, but you do not need to be Einstein to work out that gravity-defying skill plus pizzazz like this equals fun for everyone.
Until June 10. Info: 0844 847 9910, udderbelly.co.uk
Controlled Falling Project
E4 Udderbelly At Southbank Centre
Jubilee Gardens, SE1 8XX
